Storing data generated by enterprise applications is a requirement. Making use of that data is optional. Over the years, many technologies have sought to turn stored data into a wealth of actionable information. Rarely have these IT projects been overwhelmingly successful.
From the earliest reporting from punch cards to the latest internet of things monitoring technology, making sense of all of the stored data has been continuously evolving. This area goes by many names, but most people commonly refer to it as business intelligence (BI).
BI comes in many different varieties. Using the wide array of dashboards, in-memory databases, and other related technologies, it is no wonder that so many different offerings from vendors fall under the category of BI. Blending both the technical side and the business needs is a constantly changing foundation.
The variety of options available has always been moving in the direction of making things easier for business users. The ultimate goal is to get business users to get their own BI information through self-service interfaces. The greatest benefit of self-service BI is reducing the time and friction between stored data and useful insight.
Here are five ways to get BI to the people who need it the most.
1. Dashboards
A dashboard is what most people think of when using the term BI—a visual display using lots of charts and graphs to show the viewer what has happened.
This class of presentation is ubiquitous in BI applications. They are handy for situations where the same person views the dashboard repeatedly over time to see how the data has changed. Setup of a dashboard for a user is usually done by someone who is at least somewhat technical.
Once set up, the dashboard is an easy way for business users to keep checking on their key metrics. Depending on the functionality, drilling into the data from a high level down to detail levels should be easy for business users.
2. Spreadsheets
Once viewed in the dashboard, business users wants to move that data to a spreadsheet. For most of the 2000s, BI vendors fought this desire from business users. BI vendors developed and marketed options that replaced spreadsheets. Fortunately, in the past decade, BI vendors have given up the fight, and BI solutions now work well with typical spreadsheet applications.
They work so well that many people skip the BI vendor’s fancy interface or web application in favor of just getting data right into their spreadsheets.
For all the glitz and appeal of the BI application interface, getting data straight into the spreadsheet is an excellent self-service interface for business users.
3. Workflow Displays
Increasingly, BI is built into enterprise applications themselves. Putting insightful dashboards or targeted charts on the same screen that business users access when doing their regular job functions takes an enormous step out of the process for getting information.
Many new application versions from many enterprise application vendors come with frameworks that enable screen customization based on user needs with different displays of data and charts. While this does require a technical setup, it lives as a self-service BI outlet for users.
4. Web Applications/Mobile Apps
Getting BI information into the right hands at the right time is a form of self-service. Being able to quickly look on one’s phone and see information relevant to the current conversation can make a big impact. Doing so quickly is the design philosophy behind many focused BI applications.
Imagine salespeople walking into a customer’s office, looking at their phone, and seeing a summarized history of that customer’s orders automatically. That is possible with geolocation services or even just a quick verbal command.
5. Machine Learning
The emerging best use of stored data is to have trained machine learning models look at the information and then provide focused, actionable insight to users. This level of sophistication and automation is still being developed but is available for specialty applications.
In many ways, using AI and machine learning to tell business users what to do based on the stored history of data is the ultimate self-service application for BI.